The following was extracted from Goodspeed’s “History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois” and describes the first settlement of the county. It breaks down each township by who filed the first claims and in what year. The book was published in 1887 and data was likely accumulated in 1885 and 1886. Notes for clarification have been added in parenthesis. Continue reading
Tag Archives: early settlers
1939 Nannie Grey Centennial Map
A Pictorial History of Williamson County
The Nannie Gray Parks map of Williamson County, Illinois, as the county existed in 1839 when it was created from the southern half of Franklin County, has been called Nannie Gray Parks’ greatest achievement by Homer Butler, who for many years wrote a column called “Glances at Life” which appeared in the Marion Daily Republican newspaper, and which served to remind us so often of our county’s colorful, sometimes riotous, history, is also responsible for calling the map a pictorial history of Williamson County’s early years. Continue reading